Fastener.



H.. 0. SMITH.

'FAS TENER.

APPLICATION FlLED OCT. 24, 19I6 Ii Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

HARRY 0. SMITH, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed October 24, 1916. Serial No. 127,389.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY 0. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in fasteners.

The object of this invention is to provide a fastener which is especially adapted for high top shoes and doing away with laces and buttons and other contractions and pro vide a device that will permit the shoe to be readily and quickly fastened around the instep of the wearer and snugly conformed thereto.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a male and female member, the female member being provided with a look ing member and adapted to receive the male member, firmly holding the same therein and prevent accidental withdrawal of the male member therefrom and obviating any fear of the fastener becoming unfastened when in use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a fastener of this character which will be simple, practical, and comparatively inexpensive in construction and one that can be manufactured and sold at a low cost.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and set forth in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary portion of the upper of a shoe embodying my improved fastener in a closed position as made in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the fastener,

Fig. 4: is a perspective view of the female member, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the male member.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts of all the figures of the drawing.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a fragmentary portion of the upper of a shoe, to which my improved fastener, which comprises in its construction, a male member 2 and a female member 8, is secured.

The male member comprises in its construction a rectangular elongated plate 4, which has one end bent angularly as at 5, and is provided with the enlargement 6 which is prefereably circular in cross section. The enlargement 6 forms a stud and is concaved from end to end as at 7, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The female member comprises an elongated rectangular plate 8, which is provided at one end with a tapering socket member 9, closed at one end as at 10 and has the edges of the upper end turned inwardly to provide a retaining flange 11. The retaining flange 11 is annular and extends around the periphery of the upper open edge of the socket member 9, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully set forth. The socket member has formed on its outer wall a retaining rim 12, which rim extends from end to end of the socket member 9 and is curved rearwardly as at 13 in the direction of the rear end of the plate 8, this rim is adapted to engage a portion of the upper of the shoe for firmly holding the female member in close contact with the upper of the shoe. The wall of the socket, has a vertical slot 10 opening out through the upper edge thereof, the purpose of which will be here inafter more fully described.

The plate 1 of the male member and plate 8 of the female member are provided with tongues 14 which are struck up from the central body portion of the plates 4: and 8 and at spaced distances apart as clearly shown at 16. The tongue members 14 are adapted to penetrate through the portion of the upper l'as at 17, and then bent into abutting engagement with the outer face of the upper 1 for firmly forcing the body portion 1 into engagement with the face of the plate and the under face of the tongues 14:, thus preventing the male and female mem bers from being accidentally displaced or prevent any vertical or lateral movement of the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

A locking member 18 comprises a circular base plate 19 and upwardly extending spaced resilient fingers 20 which fingers are curved inwardly and outwardly and have their upper ends terminating under the retaining flange 11 in the socket member 9 of the female member as clearly shown at 21, this locking member 18 is positioned within the socket 9 and has its bottom wall 19 in engagement with the upper face of the bottom wall 10 of the socket member and its fingers are engaged under the underside of the retaining flange 11, thus preventing movement of the same from the socket member 9.

In use, the female and male members are secured in position as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the stud (5 is forced downwardly into the socket member 9 and the angularly bent end of the plate 2 arranged in the slot 10 and the stud is located between the finge'rs 20 of the member 18, the bow portion of the fingers engaged the concave face '7 of the stud member 6, thus retaining the stud of the male member in the socket 9 and preventing accidental displacement of the same until the same is grasped and pressure applied thereto.

When it is desired to remove the stud from the female socket, it is only necessary to have one portion of the upper 1 and lift upwardly, thus removing the stud from the socket member and the shoe or other device may be thus taken r removed from the wearer.

Vt hat is claimed is:

1. A fastener of the class described comprising male and female members, said male member comprising a rectangular plate, a stud formed on one end of said plate, said female member comprising a plate, a socket formed on one end of the plate and provided on one end wall *ith a vertical slot adapted to receive a portion of the plate of the male member when the stud is arranged in the socket, a retaining flange formed on the upper edge of the socket, a locking member positioned in the said socket, said locking member located under the retaining flange to prevent vertical movement of the same, said locking member adapted to receive the stud therein and hold it against displacement therefrom, and means carried by the body of the rectangular plates for securing them in position.

2. A fastener of the class described including a male and female member, said male member comprising a metal plate having one end bent angularly, a stud having concaved walls formed on the angularly bent end of said plate, said female member comprising a rectangular plate, a socket formed on one end of the plate and having its wall provided with vertical slot, the lower end of the socket being closed, a peripheral flange formed on the upper end of said socket, a locking member, said look ing member provided With a base plate having spaced resilient fingers formed thereon said locking member adapted to be arranged in the socket and having the edges of the fingers engaged under the peripheral flange for holding the same against vertical movement in the socket, a retaining rim carried by the outer wall of said socket, said stud adapted to positioned in. said socket and engaged by the fingers of thelocking member guarding the same against accidental withdrawal from the socket, and fastening tongues struck up from the bodies of the plates for securing the male and female members in position.

3. A fastener of the class described comprising male and female members, said male member comprising a fiat metal plate, substantially rectangular in cross section, one end of said plate bent angularly, a concave stud formed on the. extreme end of the angularly bent portion of the plate, said female member comprising a rectangular metal plate, a socket formed on one end of the plate and provided with a slot in the wall thereof, one end of said socket being closed, the opposite end being open and provided with a peripheral annular retaining flange, a spring locking member comprising a bottom wall andspaced upwardly extending fingers formed integrally with the bottom wall, the upper edge of said fingers located under the peripheral flange of the socket, the medial portions of the fingers bowed inwardly, said inwardly bowed portion of the fingers adapted'to engage the concave wall of the stud when positioned in the socket for holding the same against accidental withdrawal therefrom and a portion of the socket carrying plates arranged in the slot in the socket to permit the slot to be readily inserted in the socket, and tongues struck up from the plate of the male and female members for securing the same in position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

HARRSCO. SMITH. WVitnesses:

LAMBERT J. SURR, WM. MEINHAFFEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

